Yet another heartbreaking tidbit of info on Sandra Bland’s death has been disclosed to the public. Local ABC affiliate KTRK has obtained a voicemail track in which Bland was trying to reach her friend after speaking to a judge. On the tape, Bland expresses her confusion and frustration with her arrest saying, “How did switching lanes with no signal turn into all of this, I don’t even know.” Read more at The Root.

After acknowledging the disaster that Ferguson police department is, Missouri officials have decided to turn things around by introducing a new commander to set the department straight. Andre Anderson, a 50-year-old Black man originally from Phoenix, AZ will be temporarily taking over the department to get it back on its feet. Anderson was chosen because of his well-known and respected background in social outreach. The hope is that he can mitigate tensions and reverse Ferguson’s prevailing racial bias and profit-driven court system that targets Black citizens. Read more at the New York Times.

He really, really, really tried it. A former Baltimore cop had the brilliant idea to perform in blackface as a fundraising event for the six cops involved with Freddie Gray’s death. Just in time, the venue owner that was hosting the event whipped out the Vaudeville hook to pull Bobby Berger’s show and avoid further backlash from the public. Berger miraculously claims that there isn’t even a hint of racism in his work, but I beg to differ. Read more of the mess at the Baltimore Sun.

Another case of police brutality is getting media attention after it was revealed that a New York City cop put a young Hispanic schoolgirl into a chokehold, pinned her to the ground and arrested her after erroneously believing she stole someone’s smartphone. The incident occurred in February and the child’s parents are now charging the police for assault, battery, use of excessive force and various other claims. However, despite the video evidence, the police lieutenant who attacked the girl essentially lied under oath, saying that he and the child struggled and that he was compelled to pull out his handcuffs. Now the child is facing a juvenile delinquency proceeding from the Corporation Counsel of the City of New York. Read more at the Huffington Post.

NYC Min. Wage To Hit $15/hr By 2018 For Fast Food Workers

Source: Scott Olson / Getty

A wage board in lower Manhattan announced yesterday that New York City is the next city to make a huge upgrade in the movement for minimum wage workers. The standard wage for fast food workers will go up to at least $15/hour by December 31, 2018 for more than 63,000 employees. Each year, wages will have incremental increases to give time for the New York economy to adjust to its new budget. The first wage bump in New York City is set for $10.50 on December 31 of this year, up from the current rate of $8.75/hour. Read more at the Village Voice.

Bill Cosby just lost in his current battle with rape accuser Judy Huth. Cosby failed to shut down Huth’s lawsuit claiming that Cosby raped Huth as a 15-year-old girl in the Playboy mansion in 1974. Cosby’s new lawyer, Monique Pressley, maintains that news organizations distorted the comedian’s deposition from 2005 and that none of it is actually incriminating. Cosby still has yet to face any charges. Read more at the New York Times.